Career services practitioners looking to help college students impress employers with their resumes should advise them to emphasize their problem-solving skills and teamwork abilities, according to results of NACE’s Job Outlook 2018 survey.

Employers responding to thesurvey said these are attributes—beyond a strong GPA—that they most want to see on students’ resumes. Not only are problem-solving skills and teamwork abilities the most desired attributes, but they are of equal importance. (See Figure 1.)

Other attributes that employers value and want to see evidence of on students’ resumes are written communication skills, leadership abilities, and a strong work ethic.

Work experience—and particularly internship experience—also carries a lot of weight with employers. In fact, employers cited internship experience with the organization as the top factor influencing their decision when choosing between two otherwise equally qualified candidates, followed by whether the candidate has internship experience within the hiring organization’s industry. (See Figure 2.)

Data for the Job Outlook 2018 survey were collected from August 9, 2017, through October 2, 2017. A total of 201 surveys were returned—a 20.5 percent response rate. The Job Outlook 2018 report is available to members through MyNACE; nonmembers can purchase the report through the NACE store.

Figure 1: Attributes Employers Seek on a Candidate’s Resume

Attribute

% ofRespondents

Problem-solving skills

82.9%

Ability to work in a team

82.9%

Communication skills (written)

80.3%

Leadership

72.6%

Strong work ethic

68.4%

Analytical/quantitative skills

67.5%

Communication skills (verbal)

67.5%

Initiative

67.5%

Detail-oriented

64.1%

Flexibility/adaptability

60.7%

Technical skills

59.8%

Interpersonal skills (relates well to others)

54.7%

Computer skills

48.7%

Organizational ability

48.7%

Strategic planning skills

39.3%

Creativity

29.1%

Friendly/outgoing personality

27.4%

Tactfulness

22.2%

Entrepreneurial skills/risk-taker

19.7%

Fluency in a foreign language

4.3%

Source: Job Outlook 2018, National Association of Colleges and Employers

Source: Job Outlook 2018, National Association of Colleges and Employers. 5-point scale where 1=No influence at all; 2=Not much influence; 3=Somewhat of an influence; 4=Very much influence; 5=Extreme influence. (*Note: For the current survey, four attributes related to work experience were added to the original list provided to employers that was used in the past.)